Gigil na si Brownlee na bawiin ang korona

Gigil na muling maibalik ni Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee ang korona ng PBA Governor’s Cup para sa Gin Kings at tatapusin daw niya ang kanyang misyon sa finals ng liga.

Namayani ang Gin Kings sa season-ending conference noong 2016 at 2017 pero noong nakaraang taon ay nanamlay sila nang agawin sa kanila ng eventual champion Magnolia ang apat na laro sa semifinals.

Motibado na muli ngayon ang Amerikano kahit ano pa ang mangyari para lamang maibalik sa koponan ang korona. “Super motivated. I wish we would’ve had that three-peat last year but unfortunately, we came up short,” ayon kay Brownlee sa PBA.ph, na unang napagwagian ang 2018 Commissioner’s Cup diadem sa ilalim ng team Ginebra bago pa kumawala sa kanila ang trono ng Governor’s Cup.

“It feels good to be in the Finals, but this point we’re not satisfied. We wanna feel that greatest feeling. I’m just super proud of everybody, it just feels great and hopefully, we can get another one.”

Si Brownlee ang pinakamalupit ngayong player ng Ginebra, bumabanat ng triple-double o near-triple double outings para sa crowd favorite ng buong torneo. Nakapag-ambag siya ng 36 puntos, 19 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks at 1 turnover upang pangunahan ang Gin Kings na itarak ang 120-107 na panalo kontra North Port sa Game 4 ng best-of-five semis. “ I knew that Justin was really motivated, you can see it in his game,” ani Ginebra coach Tim Cone hinggil sa kanilang prized reinforcement.

Hinihintay na lamang ng Gin Kings ang kalalabasan ng iba pang semis duel sa pagitan ng TNT Ka Tropa at Meralco Bolts upang malaman ang kanilang makakalaban sa finals. Kagabi habang isinusulat ito ay nagsasagupa ang TNT at Bolts.

Isang panalo na lamang ang kailangan ng KaTropa upang makapasok sa finals. “At this point, whoever play-Meralco or Talk ‘N Text- we know, it’s gonna be tough. Those two teams are pretty much that top teams for the most of the conference,” ani Brownlee.

Ang championship series ay idaraos sa Enero 8 upang bigyan ang Ginebra at iba pang finalist ng marami pang panahon na makapagpahinga at makapaghanda para sa huling yugto ng laban.

“It’s kinda tricky because you dont’ wanna get out of shape too much. You wanna stay focused and locked in. It’s the Finals. I don’t think we’ve ever done this, having extended breaks in the semis and in the Finals. We just wanna star focused and try not to lose the mentality that we already got right now,” saad ni Brownlee. “Hopefully we don’t take too many days off.